Quark Expeditions held the keel-laying ceremony for its new expedition cruise ship Ultramarine on August 2 at Brodosplit in Croatia.

The keel-laying event, which also marks formal recognition of the 128-meter, 199-passenger vessel, included a Croatian folk music performance, as well asthe centuries-old coin ceremony, in which a specially chosen coin is welded into the ship's hull to ensure good fortune during the build and subsequentvoyages.

"The coin we chose is a beautiful silver coin featuring two Emperor penguins," says Malcolm Ellis, Senior VP Operations at Quark Expeditions. "Wechose this coin because it perfectly embodies Quark's mission: to push the boundaries of polar exploration. In our three decades of operation, QuarkExpeditions has accomplished a long list of polar firsts, including being the first to take guests to Snow Hill Island to engage with Emperor penguins in theirnatural habitat. Ultramarine's mix of design ingenuity and technological innovation will allow us to continue adding to that list of firsts by takingguests further into the polar regions than ever before."

Ultramarine is purpose-built for polar sailing. The vessel's off-ship adventure options will include activities such as flight-seeing,heli-hiking and heli-skiing. She will have two twin-engine helicopters and two helidecks.

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Quark Expeditions Holds Keel-Laying Ceremonyfor Ultramarine (https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/quark-expeditions-holds-keel-laying-ceremony-for-ultramarine)